Treasury rightly clips wings of Iran’s Mahan Air

In his recent op-ed for The Hill, FDD's Emanuele Ottolenghi asserts that for too long, Mahan Air, an Iranian commercial airline, has been complicit in the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons, torture, and other attacks against civilians. Ottolenghi applauds Treasury’s recent sanctioning of Mahan Travel and Tourism Sdn Bhd, a Malaysia-based company that acts as General Sales Agent (GSA) for Mahan Air, and is hopeful that recent sanctions will send a clear message to Mahan’s many additional service providers.

An excerpt from the op-ed follows:

“Last year, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies identified at least 67 companies inside the European Union, Russia, Turkey, the Gulf, India, China and the Far East providing Mahan with services. All of these companies have now been warned by the Treasury Department.

As U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin said, “They urgently need to sever all ties and distance themselves immediately from this airline. Companies that continue to service Mahan aircraft, or facilitate Mahan flights in and out of airports in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, are on notice that they do so at great financial risk.” 

Treasury’s message to Mahan’s service providers across the aviation industry is simple: Cut all ties to Mahan or you are next.”

Read the full piece from The Hill here.